Vision for growth in Lower Hutt city...

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The Urban Growth Strategy is Hutt City Council’s blueprint for the future growth of Hutt City, says Lower Hutt Mayor Ray Wallace.

The Urban Growth Strategy will go out for public consultation from 16 April to 17 May, as part of council’s Annual Plan process.

"The strategy is about growing the city over the next 20 years to make it a desirable city, with housing options that provide a range of choices for our residents and ratepayers," he says.

The first of two options has a target growth of 5000 more homes and an extra 4000 people by 2031.

This would be achieved through a combination of greenfield development catering for mixed housing - a total of 2,500 new homes, mainly in Wainuiomata and Kelson, and intensification - 2,500 new homes, in the form of infill housing comprising low- and high-rise apartments.

Option two is more ambitious, with a target of 7500 new homes and 10,000 more people by 2031. This would include similar provisions as option one but with twice as much intensification and a stronger focus on infill and multi-unit development.

Mayor Wallace says Hutt City needs to grow if it wants a sustainable future.

"Standing still means our city will lose our young people who are essential to sustainable growth.

"The question being posed in the Urban Growth Strategy is how much growth do we want and what will it look like?

"Our vision is to secure a brighter, more prosperous future for our city.
"

Christchurch as seen from space...

                                           A real birds eye view of Christchurch

Tuhoe want to be more independent - they will never be self-governing within NZ - republicanism will deny them that...

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Updated at 3:03 pm today

The Prime Minister says New Zealanders have nothing to fear from Tuhoe becoming more independent of the Government over the next few decades.

The Maori tribe has agreed to settle its historical grievances with the Crown in return for $170 million of compensation, an apology and more control over a national park in the North Island.

Tuhoe representatives attend the ceremony at Parliament.

PHOTO: RADIO NEW ZEALAND

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There was high emotion as Tuhoe representatives arrived at Parliament on Friday to take part in the signing of the Deed of Settlement.

Agreement on a package was reached in September 2012, which includes the Crown's acknowledgement of Treaty of Waitangi breaches.

The Crown said the payout is to recognise the severe and brutal treatment against Tuhoe during the 1800s. It will cede ownership of Te Urewera National Park to a separate legal entity to be governed by a board of Crown and Tuhoe members.

Tamati Kruger has stepped down from his role as negotiator.

PHOTO: RADIO NEW ZEALAND

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The deal also includes acknowledgement of mana motuhake. That means that within the next 40 years, Tuhoe will gradually take control of its own affairs - for example, in the provision of education, health and welfare services.

Prime Minister John Key said on Friday there is nothing in the deal that should concern other New Zealanders.

"I think we've now reached a very sensible place and one that will ensure that all New Zealanders can access what will continue to be, for all intents and purposes, a national park.

"But also, ensure that for the people of Tuhoe they can actually achieve a fair settlement and a recognition of what was an iwi that suffered terribly."

Tuhoe's chief negotiator Tamati Kruger told those gathered at Parliament that the iwi and Crown have overcome the dis-ease of colonisation, the impulsiveness of politics and the defiance of change.

Mr Kruger said he was resigning from his role, as his work is done.

The Deed of Settlement needs to be ratified by the tribe's members before legislation is drawn up.

Copyright © 2013, Radio New Zealand


http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/nz-politics-daily-tuhoe-mini-state-ck-128202

Black is back, we have got our Marmite back...

Black is back, we have got our Marmite back? Late last night supermarkets across New Zealand were filled with thousands of jars of the black stuff for the first time in 12 months. Earthquakes devastated the factory in Christchurch two years ago. Now its hot buttered toast and thickly spread Marmite. Life is good again!

Car runs on nothing but air...

• Imprint

•  Inventor Peter Dearman creates homemade car..
  

  If you're looking for the car of the future, look no further than Peter Dearman's rusty, 25-year-old Vauxhall Nova - it runs only on air...

  http://news.yahoo.com/car-runs-nothing-air-232058437--abc-news-tech.html

Zac and Ben - two young footballers from both rugby codes with personal problems to solve...

Ben Barba

                                                           Zac Guileford
                                                           

http://friendsofdownunder.blog.co.uk/2013/03/14/zac-and-ben-two-young-footballers-from-both-rugby-codes-with-personal-problems-to-be-solved-15629619/

New Zealand's 19th century wars...

• New Zealand's 19th-century wars...

  
  Death of Von Tempsky(19th century special forces commander)

  War changed the face of New Zealand in the 19th century. Tens of thousands of Maori died in the intertribal Musket Wars of the 1810s, 1820s and 1830s. Muskets revolutionised intertribal warfare, decimating the population of some tribes and drastically shifting the boundaries of areas that some tribes controlled. Thousands more fled their traditional lands, freeing large areas for Pakeha (European) settlement and complicating questions of ownership.

  From the 1840s to the 1870s British and colonial forces fought to open up the rest of the North Island for settlement. At the heart of this lay a volatile combination: contested issues of sovereignty following the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, decreasing willingness to sell land to the government, and increasing pressure for land for settlement as the European population grew rapidly. Many Maori died defending their land; others allied themselves with the colonists for various reasons, often to settle old scores.

  In all, there were an estimated 3000 casualties during the New Zealand Wars – the majority of them Maori. But for some Maori the wars were only the beginning, with land confiscation being the fate of many of the survivors. After the wars the struggle for land entered a new and, in some respects, more damaging phase, giving rise to a whole new chapter in New Zealand's history

  http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/new-zealands-19th-century-wars/introduction